White
Black

Use selectors like .cc-board, .cc-clock, .cc-side, .cc-side--white, .cc-side--black, .cc-side--active.

Online Chess Clock with Live Broadcast

A chess clock is a pair of adjacent timers that tracks each player's thinking time independently. When a player completes their move and presses the shared button, their own clock pauses and the opponent's begins to count down. The first push-button design of this kind was introduced by Thomas Bright Wilson at the London 1883 international tournament, replacing the simple sandglasses that had timed games for decades to speed up the game. Modern digital clocks add features like increments and delays that have shaped how every level of competitive chess is played today. The Wikipedia chess clock article traces the move from analog tumbler clocks to modern digital clocks. FIDE publishes the official rules of chess.

This chess clock is focusing on live broadcast feature. For personal use try the simplified chess clock »

ScoreCounter chess clock with two player timers and a live broadcast link for spectators
Online chess clock: Fischer increment, all standard time controls, live broadcast to spectators
1883First Push-Button Clock
90 + 30FIDE Classical
15 + 10Standard Rapid
3 + 2Standard Blitz

Chess Score Counter Setup

Choose a base time per player and an optional Fischer increment, name both players, then share the live link with anyone watching. On the admin page both players use a single shared control: the Space bar. The first press starts White's clock; every subsequent press ends the active player's turn, adds the increment to their remaining time, and starts the opponent's clock. P pauses or resumes, U rolls back the last press, and R resets the game. Taping a player's panel works the same as pressing space, which is convenient on a touchscreen placed between the two players.

Time Controls

Time control is written as base + increment: the base time is the minutes each side starts with, and the increment is the seconds added to a player's clock after every move they make. 5+3 means five minutes plus a three-second increment.

Bullet - Under 3 minutes per player, typically 1+0 or 2+1. Defined by reflexes and pre-memorised opening lines. The most-played format on chess.com and Lichess.
Blitz - Between 3 and 10 minutes per player. FIDE uses 3+2 for the World Blitz Championship; online events usually run 5+0 or 5+3.
Rapid - Between 10 and 60 minutes per player. 15+10 is the FIDE World Rapid Championship time control and the standard for Grand Chess Tour rapid events.
Classical - 60+ minutes per player. FIDE classical events use 90+30 for the first 40 moves with an additional 30 minutes added at move 40. World Championship matches stack additional time at moves 40 and 60.

Basic Chess Timekeeping Rules

Flag-Fall - A player whose clock reaches zero loses on time. The exception under FIDE Article 6.9 is when the opponent has no possible sequence of legal moves that could checkmate - the game is then drawn.
Fischer Increment - Patented by Bobby Fischer in 1988, the increment adds a fixed number of seconds to your clock after each move. Surplus time accumulates, which prevents flag wins in clearly winning positions.
Bronstein Delay - A delay holds your clock for a few seconds at the start of each move before counting begins. Unlike an increment, time is never added beyond your original allotment, so the clock cannot grow.
Same-Hand Rule - FIDE Article 6.2.3 requires players to move and press the clock with the same hand. Pressing with both hands or knocking over the clock is illegal and can be penalised by the arbiter.
Touch-Move - A piece deliberately touched must be moved if it has a legal move. The clock is only pressed once the move is complete, including releasing the piece on its destination square.
Insufficient Losing Chances - In games without an increment, a player whose clock has under 2 minutes can claim a draw if the position cannot reasonably be lost by ordinary means. Increments make this claim unnecessary.

Chess Clock History

1883 Thomas Bright Wilson's push-button clock debuts at the London tournament.
1973 First digital chess clock is released, allowing precise time measurement and pre-set controls.
1988 Bobby Fischer patents the increment, ending the era of flag-falls in clearly winning positions.
2008 The DGT 3000 becomes the first FIDE-certified clock to natively support modern Fischer/Bronstein controls.

FAQ

Does the clock add the increment automatically?

Of course. Set an increment in seconds when you create the clock and it is added to the active player's remaining time the instant they press the button. Set the increment to 0 for a sudden-death (no-increment) game.

Can both players share one device?

That's the recommended setup. Place a phone, tablet or laptop between the two players and tap each side's panel (or press Space) to end your turn. The active panel is highlighted so the other player knows the clock is on them.

Can spectators watch the clock live?

Sure, every clock you create has a public live URL without edit controls. Open it on a venue TV, share it with a viewer, or drop it into OBS as a Browser Source for a tournament stream.

What happens when a clock reaches zero?

The board shows the flag-fall and freezes. Under FIDE Article 6.9, the loss is overturned only if the opponent had no possible sequence of legal moves to deliver checkmate, in which case the game is drawn.

Ready to checkmate?Set your time control and the clocks are armed for White's first move. Timing more than two competitors? Switch to the race timer, or rank players over a season on the leaderboard.
Start the chess clock